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I am Professor and Chair of the Department of Political Science and Public Administration at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. I am also the editor of the academic journal The Latin Americanist.

Saturday, January 09, 2010

Mexican Ambassador to the U.S. Arturo Sarukhan gave a public example of something U.S. policy makers need to emulate: recognition of how comments by a foreign government often backfire. He was talking about how immigration reform is not terribly likely in 2010.

Sarukhan also said past pronouncements on the issue by Mexico may have done more harm than good.

"Having spoken about it publicly at times in the past ... has done a great deal of damage to our countrymen and our allies in the United States," he said.

This is the sort of recognition that would benefit everyone. In general, the U.S. government should keep in mind that inserting itself into policy debates in other countries very often leads to the exact opposite outcome of that desired.